Name: Acolyte Quinn the Lazy

Level: 65 (Apprentice Wizard)

Guild: Earth Elementalist

Affiliation: Druid of It-uile

This narative was submitted by Quinn to explain why he chose to join It-uile:

Basil stepped in and interrupted my hurried packing. I had obviously surprised him, though I had been threatening this for weeks. Clearly, he hadn't believed I was serious.

"I'm leaving tonight," I said as looked up to meet his eyes. "There's no point in staying here any longer."

He recovered his composure quickly, and the expression on his face went blank. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him approach the bed where I had laid out my belongings. The mattress sagged to one side when he sat, watching me.

"I don't understand why you'd leave all of this behind. Does it mean nothing to you? Do your friends mean nothing to you?"

We'd had this discussion before, of course, but it had never been resolved. Neither our friendship, nor our friends, were the issue, and Basil couldn't get past this. He still thought that it was enough to overcome any differences, and the fact that we did not even agree on this was merely a sign of our divisions.

"I'm leaving in spite of our friends, not because of them. You know that. You just choose to believe otherwise. And as for this town, what reason is there for me to stay? You know how I feel. I don't agree with what's happening, and I choose not to be a part of it."

Basil's face hardened, but only slightly. His lower lip twitched as I placed the last of my clothing into the pack and moved on to the satchel. This, too, was an old argument, though they had grown more intense in recent weeks.

"You choose not to be a part of it," he repeated slowly, almost disdainfully. "So you're quitting instead of working to change what you see. You have a vote. You can make yourself heard!"

I had been trying this for months, and I was tired of listening to my own voice. Especially when it was the only one on my side.

"I've tried, Basil. For too long. No one listens. Even you don't agree with me, and you're the closest friend I have."

That much we could agree on, and it was that last part which explained this final encounter. The truth was, Basil needed me more than I needed him. He needed a confidant, a mentor and a comrade. At the heart of this disagreement lay the uncomfortable knowledge that he could not bear to see me leave. In knew this, and it hurt me, but I could not follow him, or our friends, down their path.

"What we are building here is based on the agreement of its people, Quinn. There's never been anything like this in history: people choosing their own future. How can you not be a part of this?"

I put the last of my rations in the satchel, and drew it closed. I stared at him, and we held that moment briefly in silence. This was it, then.

"Tyranny by majority rule is still tyranny, Basil. The ideal is right, but the outcome is wrong."

The implications of this statement struck him immediately. He had many faults, but he was not a fool. They had gone wrong, plain and simple. Somewhere along that path to idealism, they had stepped into the wilderness and gotten lost. We had always stopped short of this point
in the past, but I was leaving now, and it had to be said.

His face went black, and his tone, indignant.

"Leave, then, if that's how you really feel! I guess you have wasted your time here all these months!"

He didn't really mean it, but he wanted to. Sometimes it was so easy to read his face.

"The weak need to be protected," I said quietly. "Those who have done wrong need our mercy, not our scorn. Some day, you will learn that I am right."

I did not wait for his reply.

The sun was hanging low in the sky, warming me as I crossed Lilac road on my way out of town. Few faces watched me leave. Fewer still, cared.

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Marital Status: Quinn is single.

Birthday: Tue Mar 4 10:08:35 2003

Description:

If you can read this, you are too close.